Old-school fixes for modern problems at asian-american banks

Asian-American banks are turning to old-fashioned relationship-building to attract new customers and keep from losing old ones — and in the process offering a lesson to Main Street bankers everywhere about meeting similar challenges.The Asian-American banks are competing with bigger banks to hold on to their customer bases, said Ken Siegman, senior director for the consulting firm West Monroe.

They are “finding in second- and third-generation members of families, it’s not as important to them to have branch walk-in that is serviced and spoken in their native language … as it was for their parents,” Siegman said. “And so the banks are all seeing a lot of difficulty both in attracting as well as retaining a younger clientele.”

Part of the problem has been their failure to sufficiently invest in digital and customer-engagement technology, Siegman said. People in their 30s and 40s have decided “these banks don’t meet their needs,” he said.